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Snap (SNAP) is expected to report results of its second quarter on Tuesday, July 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5:30 pm EDT. What to watch for:

TARGETS RAISED AHEAD OF EARNINGS: On Friday, Stifel raised the firm's price target on Snap to $13 from $8, while keeping a Hold rating on the shares. Ahead of the company's upcoming earnings report, the firm is "slightly" revising higher its digital advertising growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024, though it is only expecting "slightly better results" for ad-based names relative to the top-line outperformance witnessed in Q1.

Last week, Credit Suisse also raised the firm's price target on Snap to $16 from $11, keeping an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. As the release of new and/or updated ad products generally requires a period of adjustment for marketers to test and learn, the most realistic timeline for revenue growth recovery in the firm's view was always for the second half of 2023. That said, with frozen ad budgets beginning to thaw, Credit Suisse believes the operating environment is improving for Snap to recapture some of the lost share, particularly as it recently launched ads within Spotlight - it currently reaches 40% of the last-disclosed 750M MAUs and offers the optionality to raise the currently - high ad load ceiling that much higher.

Staying on the sidelines, Goldman Sachs upped the firm's price target on Snap to $8 from $7s. The firm has slightly lowered its medium-term revenue growth estimates to reflect some execution risk around Snap's direct response business rebuild, the firm told investors in a Q2 earnings preview note for the internet U.S. digital ads group.

SHARES TO REMAIN RANGE BOUND: In a research note ahead of quarterly earnings, Roth MKM noted that Snap's shares are up about 42% year-to-date versus S&P 500 up 19%. The firm believes investors aren't very actively involved with Snap currently, and expectations for Q2/Q3 don't assume significant fundamental inflection as Direct Response progress might still be several months out, while Brand advertising checks remain muted. Roth sees Snap shares remain range-bound post-earnings, likely between $12-$14 per share. The firm has a Neutral rating on the stock.

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